Baseball writers need guidance from Hall of Fame

That’s all the time left before the three-player crash that proves once and for all how broken the Hall of Fame voting process has become.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa are due on the Hall ballot for the first time next December. Barring direction from the Hall of Fame’s board of directors, 580-plus voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America again will be left to determine how to handle the legacies of players implicated in the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Was it OK to get some chemical help because so many players were doing it? Or does being a steroid guy disqualify you from membership, as voters are asked to consider the "integrity, sportsmanship, character" of candidates?

My take on the brokenness of the process is this: 581 voters, 581 standards.

It’s ridiculous to expect me and the other 580 who voted a year ago to sort this out. Many of my brethren disagree, but we hardly have the information we need for these calls. We don’t know who did and who did not use steroids, and we never will.

All we know is which guys have been implicated publicly, through positive tests (Manny Ramirez and Rafael Palmeiro), the Mitchell Report (Clemens) and reporting (Bonds, Mark McGwire). Then there are guys like Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Sosa, who are reported to have tested positive in 2003 survey testing, which was done under a since-violated guarantee of anonymity.

The whole thing is beyond a slippery slope. It’s an icy crevasse.

The one thing that is clear is that players with any link to performance-enhancing drugs aren’t currently welcome in Cooperstown. McGwire, the test case, has been on the ballot five years, never has received more than 23.7 percent of the vote and received 13 fewer votes in 2011 than in 2010.

While Jeff Bagwell never was linked to steroid use, he improved his body taking androstenedione when it was sold off the shelves at GNC and told ESPN in 2010 that he had "no problem" with a player juicing up. He received 41.7 percent as a first-timer and returns for his second year on the ballot in the voting that ends Sunday and will be released Jan. 9.

It’s impossible to know if that 42 percent rating is a reflection on his play - he’s a Hall of Famer in my book - or if he’s considered a steroid user, even if his only real tie is to androstenedione when it was sold over the counter.

My interpretation says guys who took advantage of baseball’s lack of testing to do as they pleased - Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Clemens, Rodriguez and Palmeiro, among others - disqualified themselves for the Hall because integrity is among the listed factors for voting. But I need some evidence. I don’t believe I can eliminate every brawny player on suspicion alone.

If the New York Times had not reported Sosa was on the list of 104 players testing positive in 2003, I would have felt I had to vote for him even though he seemed as complicit as Bonds and McGwire. There has to be some standard of fairness, even if it allows a good cheat to beat the system.

Rather than reward some cheaters and sanction others, you can say _ as ESPN’s Buster Olney does - players should be judged only by what they have done on the field. But I can’t get there in my thinking when voting rules cite "integrity, sportsmanship, character ..."

Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the Hall’s board, needs to take some ownership of the issue. The BBWAA serves at the Hall’s discretion. There has been discussion at recent BBWAA meetings about seeking clarification from the Hall, but a vote asking for help was rejected in 2010. That doesn’t mean voters don’t need help; it means many aren’t humble enough to ask for it.

Jeff Idelson, president of the Hall, cites the BBWAA’s stance in explaining why the Hall hasn’t entered the discussion.

"The Hall of Fame has always been an open book with the BBWAA," Idelson said. "Always willing to listen to the concerns the BBWAA has, always willing to discuss them. At this point in time, we have great faith in the organization to continue voting with the integrity it has since 1936."

Trouble is, it’s not the voters’ integrity that is in question. It’s the perceived integrity of the candidates, and everyone has a different take on that. This is the last chance for the Hall to get in front of the argument, and there’s no indication it feels the need.

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Where’s the love: For whatever reason, the Hall of Fame voting has become an annual beatdown for shortstop Alan Trammell. There’s no explaining why he is dismissed by three out of every four voters, as he not only compares nicely with Barry Larkin, who could be elected this year, but also with Ozzie Smith, who was a first-ballot choice in 2002, when Trammell got 16 percent of the vote.

This lack of support is an ongoing riddle. Consider how the three shortstops rank in Baseball-Reference.com’s career WAR rankings _ Larkin (68.9), Trammell (66.9), Smith (64.6). Take the best six years of their careers, as some voters do to rank candidates, and Trammell emerges as the player with the most impact in his prime. He’s at 39.4 for his best six years, compared to Larkin’s 36.9 and Smith’s 34.6.

Trammell received 24.3 percent of the vote last season. He looks a lot like a lost cause, and the only easy way to explain it is he spent 20 years as a Tiger, not a Yankee or a Dodger. But Larkin spent his entire 19-year career with the Reds, so maybe it’s also about a player needing, at least subtly, to promote himself - an effort Trammell still won’t undertake. Ask him about the Hall, and within 10 seconds he’s selling double-play partner Lou Whitaker’s case, not his own.

Bernie Williams is the best of the newcomers to the ballot. But his legacy was built heavily around being the Yankees’ center fielder during a run of titles in the era of expanded playoffs, which gave him the chance to play 121 postseason games, including 32 in the World Series. It will be a shame if he gets more votes than Trammell.

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The big question: The last time Matt Garza went to the plate at Wrigley Field, Mike Quade told him not to swing. He was worried Garza might hit into a double play, which would keep Starlin Castro from having a shot to get his 200th hit at home. And Garza still swung, grounding out, which led to Castro getting walked intentionally.

No big deal, maybe. But Greg Maddux wouldn’t have swung.

"I was in my mode," Garza said. "I’m going to go out there and compete. I’m not going to give up. That’s what it is."

Are the Cubs shopping Garza because he’s a free swinger? Hardly, but after that game on Sept. 21, Quade gave Garza a surprisingly lukewarm endorsement. Now the Cubs are seemingly on the verge of trading their best pitcher, possibly to the Blue Jays, Red Sox or Yankees.

One thing President Theo Epstein better not do is make the mistake Ken Williams did with Nick Swisher - giving up a ton to get him and trading him for chump change a year later before Swisher earned his World Series ring with the Yankees.

Two of the guys Williams gave up to get Swisher after the 2007 season were included in Billy Beane’s series of roster-stripping trades this winter. Gio Gonzalez netted the A’s four top prospects from the Nationals - right-handed pitchers A.J. Cole and Brad Peacock, left-hander Tom Milone and catcher Derek Norris. Ryan Sweeney was packaged alongside Andrew Bailey for three prospects from the Red Sox - outfielder Josh Reddick, third baseman Miles Head and 19-year-old pitcher Raul Alcantara.

Kyle Drabek, who was seen as the key to the Blue Jays’ Roy Halladay trade with the Phillies, is being dangled to the Cubs in talks for Matt Garza. He had a nightmare 2011 but some scouts believe he can regain his value if he stops trying to learn a cutter. ... The Tigers are interested in Garza and have young pitching to trade in Rick Porcello, Jacob Turner and Andy Oliver. ... Ryan Sweeney may benefit greatly from his trade from the A’s to the Red Sox. Barring a subsequent acquisition, he’s in line to be the Red Sox’s primary right fielder until at least midseason, when Ryan Kalish could be ready after left shoulder surgery. Sweeney is not likely to hit many homers but his doubles total should jump at Fenway Park. ... One reason to like Yu Darvish’s chances to make the transition to the Rangers _ in his first two seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, he had an American manager (Trey Hillman) and pitching coach (Mike Brown). Rangers reliever Yoshi Tateyama was a Fighters teammate, which also should help. ... When’s the market going to develop for Edwin Jackson? He’s 28 and has compiled a 3.96 ERA over an average of 208 innings the last three years _ oh, and the Cardinals don’t get to the World Series without him last season. He has handled his frequent trades well and deserves a three- or four-year deal. ... Andre Ethier, who is one year away from free agency, is high on Theo Epstein’s wish list. He’s the type of guy the Cubs president might look to acquire at midseason in the hope of keeping him around, like the Reds did with their surprising trade for Scott Rolen in 2009. ... Target Field suits Jason Marquis but he’s hardly a major upgrade for a Twins rotation that was 12th in the AL with a 4.64 ERA last year. ... John Danks’ $65 million contract is the biggest in White Sox history, replacing the $62 million commitment they inherited on the Alex Rios waiver claim. That contract extension increases the chance Gavin Floyd will be dealt, but Floyd’s value isn’t much better than Danks’ was when the Sox shopped him in hopes of landing multiple pitching prospects.